An Arbitrarily Chosen List of My Favorite Video Game Characters

This is a list of ten of my favorite video game characters, in no particular order and with very little reasoning behind them.

GLaDOS
Game: Portal


Easily my favorite enemy in any game, GLaDOS is the only character with any lines in Portal, promising cake but never delivering.

Favorite Quote:
"I'd just like to point out that you were given every opportunity to succeed. There was even going to be a party for you. A big party that all your friends were invited to. I invited your best friend the Companion Cube. Of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends. Because of how unlikeable you are. It says so here in your personnel file: Unlikeable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikeable loner whose passing shall not be mourned. 'Shall not be mourned.' That's exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official. It also says you were adopted. So that's funny, too."

Renegade Commander Shepard
Game: Mass Effect


So many good lines from Commander Shepard if you choose to be an asshole Renegade.

Favorite Quote:
"Why does this hanar refuse to listen to reason?"
"Because it's a big, stupid jellyfish!"

G-Man
Game: Half Life series


This guy seriously creeps me the fuck out every time he appears. The weird way he talks, the way I never know what the hell is going on when he just shows up for no readily apparent reason.

Creepiest Quote:
"Time, Dr. Freeman? Is it really that time again? It seems as if you only just arrived. You've done a great deal in a small time...span. You've done so well, in fact, that I've received some interesting offers for your services. Ordinarily I wouldn't contemplate them, but these are extraordinary times. Rather than offer you the illusion of free choice, I will take the liberty of choosing for you... if and when your time comes round again. I do apologize for what must seem to you an arbitrary imposition, Dr. Freeman. I trust it will all make sense to you in the course of... well, I'm really not at liberty to say. In the meantime... this is where I get off."


Alyx Vance
Game: Half Life series


One of the few characters I've ever had actual feelings for in a video game. I don't know why, but I was actually sad when the creature thingy (whose name I've forgotten) basically almost kills her.

Favorite Quote:
"I think we just broke about 50 Combine regulations! No eye contact with Combine soldiers; don't damage Combine property; don't kill the Combine representatives; have your papers out and available; no loud noises after 6 o'clock;..."

Dog
Game: Half Life series


Half Life 2: Episode 2. Dog beats the shit out of a Strider that generally takes six or seven rockets to take down. It was so awesome seeing t kick a Strider's ass after I had had so much trouble taking them out towards the end of Half Life 2. Dog is adorable despite its monstrous size and metallic composition. There's more personality in that non-speaking robot than in many other video game characters (Gordon Freeman from the same game comes to mind).

Favorite Action:
Kicking the shit out of a Strider

Dog
Game: Fable II


I killed off my families in Fable II multiple times without caring. I would roam the streets of Bowerstone, killing literally every person I saw. But when my dog was even hurt, I would immediately stop fighting any battle I was in and heal him. I played fetch with him for no reason. When he died, my reaction was very much like when I was six and watched Bambi and his mother got shot. I literally cared more about my dog than my own character.

Favorite Name:
Kerflufflezor

Sheogorath
Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles


In Oblivion, I usually skip through dialog if I've heard it before. Not with Sheogorath. He has some of my favorite dialog in any game.

Favorite Quote:
"Wonderful! Time for a celebration...Cheese for everyone! Wait, scratch that, cheese for no one. That can be just as much of a celebration if you don't like cheese, true?"

Haskill
Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles


Sheogorath's chamberlain's dry detachment and tired sarcasm make him one of my favorite characters. Always able to help you by offering advice in as condescending a tone as possible. I love messing with him.

Favorite Quote:
"Oh silly me, the book has no pictures. I can't really expect you to read that, now can I?"

Francis
Game: Left 4 Dead


He hates vans, tunnels, sewers, hospitals, doctors, lawyers, cops, subways, airports, small towns, churches, graveyards, trains, the army, airplanes, stairs, elevators, hotels, malls, walking, turnpikes, trainyards, water, camping, and woods, but not vests

Favorite Quote:
"You know what I don't hate? I don't hate vests."

Niko Bellic
Game: Grand Theft Auto IV


Niko Bellic is one of the most fully fleshed-out characters I can think of, and, together with the amazing plot, brings legitimacy to what would otherwise be nothing more than a controversial sandbox game. I had never played a GTA game before IV, and I was surprised by how good it was. I had only thought that it was the sort of game that really shouldn't be gotten for anyone under the age of eightteen. I was of course right, because the gameplay is far too adult and the story is far too adult.

Favorite Quote:
"War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other."

Well, that post was a lot of work and took me over an hour and a half to complete, but hey, what the hell, I was bored.